Related: In an interview with Sherdog before UFC 113, Rua gave his thoughts on another 205-pound star who he might have to tangle with at some point — Jon Jones. "He is a great young fighter, too damn good, and he’s coming with everything in our division," Rua said. "He is very good in wrestling. I think he and Cain Velasquez are the two guys with the best wrestling in MMA today, together with Georges St. Pierre. He’s a very good wrestler, very dangerous. He’s a guy who will give a lot of people trouble." Will Rua be able to avoid the Light-Heavyweight Title Hot Potato Curse™ long enough to battle Bones for the belt one day?

Cagepotato Comments

Showing 1-25 of comments

This makes sense -- Randy's just not old enough to make this fight exciting.

513- May 11, 2010 at 10:03 am

wtf give Ken Shamrock a title shot

macreadysshack- May 11, 2010 at 10:03 am

@ Harry Sack

Points 'a' and 'b' are interesting . . .

On point 'c', I've gotta disagree with: "lets face it - father time aint been too kind to Rampage"

While I think it's true that Rampage has lost some of his explosiveness ('blackness', if you will), his boxing for MMA has improved considerably. While I don't think it's enough to make a match with Shogun a fun affair for him, I do think that with his improved skills and experience, it'll be more competitive than that one time in Pride where Shogun raped him.

@Dalton
I do have to agree with you on the lil nog part, cane isn't even that good anyways but lil nog did obliterate him, and it was just his first fight, I say he has to win about two more to get a title shot.

@Failing
You have to look at it in a way that makes even more sense. Yes they are both coming off wins, but the video in the above article and Rashads last two fights clearly show they have no right to be number 1 contenders. Bones Jones is the #1 Contender. Period.

@Kimbosbread
I agree with you 100%

rlh61- May 11, 2010 at 9:31 am

Hey, anyone think Bader/Couture would be a logical fight? He's only been mentioned a few times, but he's got some decent victories. Ever improving stand-up and one hell of a wrestling pedigree.

If they both relied on their wrestling, it could get boring, but that's still a fight I'd like to see.

Kimbos Bread- May 11, 2010 at 9:30 am

Couture vs Anderson Silva.

Snap, that would an epic battle. And a perfect excuse to give Couture the ultimatum that if he looses, he goes home for good. If Couture wins, fastrack him to a title shot.

UFC, get it done.

Harry Sack- May 11, 2010 at 9:26 am

Note the above reply in no way is meant to disrespect Jones - who deserves his shot now rather than next year. He would lose to Silva and Shogun easily but damn, give the kid his shot - he has earned it.

failingev0lution- May 11, 2010 at 9:20 am

^^^ yap yap yap.

Harry Sack- May 11, 2010 at 9:15 am

To my fellow pompous dillwads...
a. Spider is quite possibly the best 205'er now - regardless of where he normally fights or what division he HAS TOTALLY CLEANED THE FUCK OUT. Shogun will have more than his hands full (ew) with Silva on his hands. (note if Silva does beat Shogun - who is left? Jones, meh - too inexperienced. Machida, nah - he wont fight his friends. Rampage? maybe - beyond that he will have cleaned 205 "the fuck out" as well)
b. King Mo - hell yes - im intrigued, I didnt say anything other than intrigued - read it again. King Mo is undeniably interesting - you might put Vitor in there as well.
c. STOP Deluding yourselves into thinking Randy has ANY business in a title fight against anybody in any division in the UFC. He's lucky to still be in the UFC. Shogun Killed Rampage 5 years ago and lets face it - father time aint been too kind to Rampage. And Rashad is already practicing his KO face in the mirror.
Why are we even accepting anything less than Shogun vs. Silva again?

Kimbos Bread- May 11, 2010 at 9:04 am

I think we are all in agreement that Bones Jones deserves the next title shot here. At least this seems to be the common opinion.

I personally believe the UFC will give Rashad/Rampage the next title shot. But I agree Jones needs to be at the very top of the list. Even above Rashad/Rampage.

Both Rashad and 'Page are former 205er belt holders coming off of wins. Makes sense to me that the winner between them will be next in line. (For the record, my money's on 'Page, assuming he actually had a good camp, is in shape, and is not still eating movie set donuts).

That being said, I would still prefer to see a fresh face (read Jon Jones) as a title-shot challenger.

Japanadian- May 11, 2010 at 8:46 am

@Plan B, you're right it was the Sakuraba fight
@Perpatraitor, Rampage looks tired because of Religion. He had recently become religious and was forced into fasting the week before the fight.
Randy better have to beat a top contender if he wants a title shot. Randy vs Machida would definetly prove his worth

DaltonSwayze- May 11, 2010 at 8:44 am

@Kimbo

Why does Lil Nog deserve a shot? Beating Cane was good and all, but beating Brilszszszsz isn't going to make him #1 contender.

Jones will get there, and hopefully he gets a #1 contender fight if he gets by the Janitor

KimboSlice- May 11, 2010 at 8:36 am

I don't see how Rashad or Rampage could even get a title shot, if anyone deserves one it should be either Jon Jones or Lil Nog.

If you think about it Rashads last two fights have been against Lyoto (in which he got his ass handed to him, and Shogun just beat Lyoto) and Thiago Silva (Thiago could have easily finished Rashad in the 3rd round, but they were both gassed).

And Rampage's last two fights were against Keith 'The Dean of Never Winning a Fight' Jardine and Wanderlei Silva. And his last fight was at UFC 97.

Sometimes the UFC irritates me....

/common sense

Who else is with me on this?

HotPotato- May 11, 2010 at 8:35 am

@X

Welcome........to this site.........it's really nice to have you here........too bad you wont be around for much longer.........oops,did I just give a spoiler........

failingev0lution- May 11, 2010 at 8:35 am

Ahh old Pride fights, they bring a tear to my eye and joy to my heart. If anyone is interested, here's a quality Shogun highlight reel, which includes many glorious head stomps and soccer kicks. Long live King Shogun!

Spider isn't a 205'er
Jones has all of 5 fights in the UFC and is ranked around #7 in the division
Afterbirth has all of ONE fight in the UFC

Rashad and Rampage are ranked #2 and #3 respectively in the LHW division by most websites, although a couple have Machida at 2. How can you deny the winner of that fight a shot at the title? You can't.

DaltonSwayze- May 11, 2010 at 8:14 am

I don't disagree that wrestling is the most important aspect of MMA, I just think that Randy's time is past, and Shogun's time is now. I won't be betting on Toney against Randy, but I also wouldn't wager that Couture will get another relevant win in his career

Kimbos Bread- May 11, 2010 at 8:13 am

@PERPATRAITOR

He must have been sippin' on some of Lyoto's Dragon Punch before the fight!?

Harry Sack- May 11, 2010 at 7:59 am

The only fights that are even slightly interesting at 205 for Shogun
1. Spider
2. Jones
3. lil Nog
4. King 'Mo
Since only 3 of these fights are possible, why in holy hell is Randy or Rashad or Rampage even in the discussion? This aint boxing playa. Make the fights we want to see. Period.

Plan B- May 11, 2010 at 7:53 am

@ Perpatraitor

I think he said he was poisoned before the Sakuraba fight, claiming the Japs didn't want their star to lose to an American if I recall correctly.

This fight makes much more sense, as said Couture needs to worry about Toney, I highley doubt Randy will strike with Toney, most likely work the clinch and take it to the ground.

I'm interested regardless of whoever wins out of Page/Evans.

Jon Jones will get his shot eventually, we just need to remember he's only technically riding a 1 fight win streak due to the Ref not wanting to save Hamill's life. Jones looked at the ref like "Shouldn't you be stopping this?" before getting desperate to end it and getting DQ'd. Jones is also fighting Matyushenko next, while I don't mean any disrespect Matyushenko is not cream of the crop as far as LHW is concerned, so Bones will probably have a minimum of one more fight before a title shot, perhaps the loser of Shogun vs. TBA....

6pakofdwarves- May 11, 2010 at 7:46 am

Great, now Randy will "retire" after he beats Toney. Then make a movie, try to fight Fedor in Guam and start a shit storm with Dana, make another movie, bang a teenager and get divorced, dry hump Dana and get a title shot as his first fight back in 2 years. Oh, and sell some workout equipment too.

PERPATRAITOR- May 11, 2010 at 7:40 am

I think Rampage said he felt he got poisoned before this fight. If you watch it he does looks oddly weak. I think it was this fight but correct me if I'm wrong.

Kimbos Bread- May 11, 2010 at 7:38 am

That shit hurt nigga!

Elentius- May 11, 2010 at 7:37 am

Strikers believe that the strikes will knock you out before they get taken down except that wrestling is the dominant style in MMA and they find themselves on the ground. Randy owned Lesnar on the ground and is the best wrestler in MMA. He was only a champ five times or so? Yeah he can do it at 205... especially against Rua.

andoy162- May 11, 2010 at 7:35 am

@Mckellion:
youre right. how couldve i forgotten about jones ????
yup.....jones should be up between rampage and rashad.
and a rematch between rua and rampage would be sweeeet !

PERPATRAITOR- May 11, 2010 at 7:34 am

I need rampage in my life! Shogun beat rampage back in pride when he was fighting like a damn maniac. No telling what those guys were on back then. I see shogun defending quite a few times. At least until James Toney gets his shot lol.

DaltonSwayze- May 11, 2010 at 7:22 am

Um, Randy did take Lesnar down, but not at will. Shogun KOs Randy before he can get there, anyway.

After watching this clip, I'm glad that soccer kicks and head stomps are illegal in the states. It's just plain unsportsmanlike, and doesn't exactly seem very skilled

mmaniac22- May 11, 2010 at 7:22 am

So we have a black, a brown and a blondie as the best wrestlers in the sport. Eveyrone is happy but the yellows.

Elentius- May 11, 2010 at 7:19 am

Rashad would take him down, own him on the ground, and get the belt back if he gets past Rampage.
Randy would get him down even easier and GnP him so I don't see why everyone is taking Randy out of contention. If Randy can take Lesnar down at will then he can certainly do the same to a guy that is almost a hundred pounds lighter. He got the HW strap back and he can do the same with the LHW strap. Keep doubting ya ADDers.

Smitty- May 11, 2010 at 7:10 am

I like it mckellion.

Smitty- May 11, 2010 at 7:08 am

Holy crap! I like the sounds of all this. I hope Rampage and Rua go at it again. I wonder if Page can avenge his Pride loss like he did with Wand. I was at that fight, and Wand still went out to the after party after gettin KTFO! He was very gracious, and hands on with the crowd.

mckellion- May 11, 2010 at 7:07 am

If lil nog beats brilz him and jon jones should fight! the winner fighting randy and the winner of that fighting the Rua vs Rampage/Evans

simples

Negativecreep0- May 11, 2010 at 7:04 am

FIRST.........that video clip was racist!

andoy162- May 11, 2010 at 7:00 am

yup. couture should fight his way for title contention. the winner between rashad/rampage should get to fight rua.
in the meantime, i think its interesting to see little nog get a title shot after a couple of wins in the lhw.

jimbonics- May 11, 2010 at 6:56 am

I'm pretty sure this was always going to be the case. Randy has Toney next, right? Factoring in time issues, it only makes sense 'Page/Stank gets the first shot, then maybe Randy, if he gets past Mumbles.

If Toney lands a shot similar to the one Shogun planted on 'Chida... his hype-man's head will assplode.